Annotated chess game

1st and 5th lesson can be arguable,otherwise i agree with rest.

If you don't follow lesson number five a lot of won games will turn to draws.

According to theory, 2..Nf6?! (the Marshall variation) is wrong, because after 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 (Nc6 5.e4 gives White an edge (correct me if I'm rong).

Oh geez. We're talking about an online "master" vs a c player. I'm sure the QGD Marshall variation is completely sound for Black here. We're not GM's and won't ever be! We can get away with MURDER in the opening.

sweet

Emtogsdia you are right that this game has no real meaningful value. However, like in all my analysis I strive to provide accurate advice from my level. If I give erroneous advice from my opponents level then how can you and him learn from this game?

Yes,now that white didnt play Nf3 instead, black can play e5. strongest move,creating an IQP.

I have to agree. c6 seems odd here. if I "had" to push the c pawn id rather just put it on c5 right away

What!? no it's not. Your a6-b5 variation is rather poor for black because 1) White is better developed 2) black will get in to serious problems after a4. c6 is actually resonable because after black plays e6 we get into a semi-slav where black takes the c4 pawn to place his knight on d5. Very solid stuff for black. I still would have gone for the more aggresive 4. ... e5 or the quiet but resonable 4. ... e6 where it will transpose into a QGA main line which i prefer to be black in. Infact this is actually a main line. This is a slav main line just that white has a knight on f3 instead of c3 Edited: So you are basically saying that slav is poor for black? c6 makes it slav like,there have been millions of games where black has made d5,c6,nf6 and dxc4 just like in this position. and i dont think the top grand masters have been misscalculating setting it up like this. And 4. ... a6 5.Bxc4 e6 6. Nf3 b5 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. a3 looks better for white,prepearing b4.

After 4... a6 5.Bxc4?! e6 6.Nf3 b5! 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.a4 b4 followed by ...Nbd7, white's advantage in development has disappeared, and ...c5 is coming. Black is doing really well here, I wouldn't mind playing the black side of this. 4...c6?! is weak, for reasons that will become apparent in this game. EDIT: In the Slav, to which 4...c6 transposes, it's inaccurate for black to capture ...dxc4 before white plays Bd3, otherwise white gains a tempo as he can recapture Bxc4 in one move. So here, black is not playing a normal Slav, he's playing a Slav-like position but he's a tempo down on the usual lines. That's why 4...c6 is weak here. Also in the ...dxc4 lines, black's best chance is in Q-side expansion, but black's subsequent ...Bb4 ruins that, as well. Finally, if 4... a6 5.Bxc4?! e6 6.Nf3 b5! 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.a3, black just plays 8...c5 right away, and black's position is probably better than one after my 8.a4 b4 suggestion, which was already pretty good for black to begin with.

Well said Hityerclock I could not said it better!

No,Be7 is more solid. If he had gone for the e5 variation the e-file would be open and therefor it's ok to play Bb4 but this semi slav,black's DSB looks flexible inside the brick wall. edited: c6 is for restraining white's center and make the d5 square a strong post. you really need to read nimzowitsch theories and look up semi-slav.

? After playing ...c6, the logical continuation is a subsequent ...b5 and ...b4, otherwise what purpose does ...c6 serve? So either ...c6 was a mistake, or ...Bb4 is. Better IMO is 6... Nbd7, preparing to expand on the Q-side with ....b5/...b4/...c5/...Bb7 etc. EDIT: I understand about the c6 pawn supporting d5, but the only piece that can realistically go to d5 is the Nf6, in which case the DSB belongs on e7. So again, either ...Bb4 is mistake, or ...c6 was a mistake. They can't both be correct.

well black basically looses tempo unless you play a3,and the bishop pair. he will most likely continue develop.

ah so he did play Bxc3 after all...

Black spends two moves to swap his good bishop for a N that only moved once. Now white is actually winning.

not to mention,this doesnt develop AND weakens the queenside. pawn to a4 looks strong. this still doesnt have to be a blunder.

Too late! Generally in these Slav-like positions, black can't just play ...b5, he has to play ...b4 and ...c5 as well, otherwise b5 becomes a target, and he'll have difficulties getting any kind of play on the Q-side. This is a tall order after swapping the DSB and putting a white pawn on c3.

this isn't a blunder,Black Should have gone for development here tho as you describe and then think about Nd5

White is going after b5, so the Q belongs on b3 to support this plan.

good,you know about a4 as well. also the queen looks a bit clumsy on the b-file. Qc2 looks a little better. Since the f1-rook can soon go to b1

Normally the Queen would look silly here. Even after the possible defensive strategies of ...a6 or ...Qb6 B5 stil falls and the queen is stilling on a deadly open file. One other reason I played Qb3 instead of Qc2 was it is more flexible becaue it can help with undermining d5 is I want to attack d5 later.

why not just take the a-pawn instead of loosing another pawn

Agreed, ...bxa4 has its own set of problems, but it's better than the text.

i dont see it being captured on f6,e7,c7,b6 or even c3 (at least not until next move). but white gets the center anyways and the d5 square

This is a blunder

strong move!

I suppose you mean 17.Qxc6.

and i suppose that you mean 17. Qxc6+

Yes sorry I meant Qxc6+

Mind you, 17. Qxc6+ doesn't compromise the win, in view of the variation 17... Bd7 18. Bb5! Bxc6 19. Bxc6+ Qd7 20. Bxd7+ Kxd7 and White remains a piece up.

you will be leading with two minor pieces!

ah yes,you win a rook here

White wins a rook after 18... Bxd3??, but isn't 18... Bb7 rather better?

"better" in that it doesn't lose as quickly, but black really doesn't have any good moves in this position.